The fervor, almost religious, is still there. Despite the setbacks and breakups, thousands cheered former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo on March 31 in the town of Yopougon, Abidjan, his historic stronghold. An incandescent crowd gathered to celebrate the Renaissance Festival, the first major meeting since the return to the country of “Woody” – “the valiant boy” in Bété language – organized two years, to the day, after his final acquittal by the Criminal Court International (ICC).

“In 2025, Laurent Gbagbo will return to the presidential palace”, preached from the podium the secretary general of the African Peoples’ Party Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) Damana Pickass, under the cries of “President, president!” pushed by the crowd. As if the past ten years had only been a parenthesis.

This show of force surprised political observers, while Laurent Gbagbo’s party seemed to be losing momentum. After his departure from the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 2021, the former president saw the party he had founded in 1982, with his wife Simone Gbagbo and socialist comrades, pass into the hands of his former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N’Guessan and ally with the ruling party. Mrs. Gbagbo, with whom he is in the process of divorce, has, for her part, refused to participate in the creation of the PPA-CI, preferring to found, with some executives of the FPI, her own party. A burst to which has been added in recent months the rallying to the presidential majority of several local elected officials ahead of the local elections.

Amnesty

At the end of March, the two-year suspended prison sentence of 26 PPA-CI activists for “disturbing public order” cast doubt on the party’s ability to mobilize. But, despite everything, the base holds. “It must be recognized that Mr. Ouattara is not making a real effort to be inclusive, and those who are marginalized are forced to stay in their political family”, recalls political scientist Sylvain N’Guessan. Especially since resentment against power is still alive: in the entourage of Laurent Gbagbo, many still consider Alassane Ouattara as the vassal of France and the architect of the fall of the FPI.

“And then there are always people who believe in Laurent Gbagbo,” continues Mr. N’Guessan. They believe in his ideal, in his social project. Which one exactly? Hard to say. The one written by Laurent Gbagbo since 2010, focused on decentralization, the fight against poverty and a certain economic patriotism, remained at the FPI. While the deposed president defended himself at the ICC, the party, mired in its divisions, did not produce a new profession of faith.

Although mobilized around its leader, the formation is not a uniform block. Among those close to the ex-president, some criticize in a low voice the omnipresence of his companion, the former journalist Nadiana Bamba, known as “Nady”, who manages both his daily agenda and his political agenda. We also carefully avoid mentioning the age – 77 – and the state of health of the leader, as well as the question of his eligibility. Since he was only acquitted by the ICC, and only pardoned by Ivorian justice, Laurent Gbagbo will need an amnesty if he wishes to run for president in 2025.

“General of the Street”

In the event of a blockage, some at the PPA-CI could hope to take up the torch, such as Stéphane Kipré, son-in-law of the chef and successful businessman at the head of a small financial empire. But the elegant forties will have to prove himself in the local elections by winning the Haut-Sassandra against the party of the head of state. The name of Ahoua Don Mello, former spokesperson for Gbagbo’s government and connoisseur of international relations, was also able to circulate. As well as that of Michel Gbagbo, the eldest son of 53 years, university criminologist and deputy, who has not yet shown more ambitions than the commune of Yopougon.

For a long time, Gbagbo father’s designated successor was his “street general”, Charles Blé Goudé, responsible for mobilizing youth during the years of crisis and acquitted, like Laurent Gbagbo, by the ICC in 2021. But the divorce between the two men is now pronounced, and Mr. Blé Goudé has chosen to go it alone in his own party, the Pan-African Congress for Justice and Equality of Peoples (Cojep). This one was also copiously booed at the Yopougon Renaissance Festival.

As for naming an heir among his early followers, like Damana Pickass or Justin Koné Katinan, observers hardly believe it. Laurent Gbagbo made himself alone, using his slippers in the street by demonstrating against the single party of President Houphouët-Boigny. “He acquired everything in the fight, in adversity, sums up Sylvain N’Guessan. And he believes that the following leaders should also be. »